Storage and Retrieval Solutions for Facilities with Space Limitations

The consumer goods industries are in the midst of a supply chain revolution. Continuous increase in the cost of land, labor and facilities has put a heightened demand on space utilization within warehouses and distribution centers. Just-in-time delivery of smaller quantities of a larger number of products and orders to retail stores is pushing inventory storage back to the DCs and manufacturers. And manufacturers are more closely looking at their storage and how they can satisfy the needs of retailers.

Along with this growth in SKUs and just-in-time delivery is an increase in the variability of primary and secondary packaging of consumer products. Packaging styles include boxes of all sizes, cans and jars in cardboard trays, open and closed cartons for beverages and bags, and large tissue packages.

Logistics executives are adjusting to these dynamics by reconcepting their DCs and manufacturing warehouses, looking for answers to questions like… “How can we optimize our distribution at the lowest total cost, factoring facility, labor, equipment and inventory? And, how can we reduce inbound and outbound transportation costs, and fixed and variable costs within our distribution network?”

For decades, AS/RS cranes have been the longstanding workhorse for high-density, high-throughput automated pallet movement in distribution operations. These computer-controlled systems, which automatically deposit, store and retrieve pallet loads from defined storage locations, permit rapid and efficient pallet handling and product rotation, essential to the needs of contemporary warehouses. AS/RS stacker cranes provide single-deep, double-deep and multi-deep stacking, with the flexibility to handle one pallet load at a time or multi-loads. The latest stacker cranes can go three pallets deep with a telescope fork, and then with a satellite remote unit can run a pallet as much as 20 pallets deep, and then return back to the stacker crane.

High-bay AS/RS optimize cubic space usage, not only by their vertical stacking capability, but also by minimizing aisle cubic footage. By eliminating the need for fork lift trucks, aisles can be made significantly more narrow, allowing 12-foot-wide aisles to become just 5-foot wide. This space can then be used for more pallet positions.

But conventional warehouses without high-bay ceiling heights are typically not candidates for AS/RS, even though they may have the same requirements for high-density, high-throughput storage and distribution of pallets with a high volume of fast-moving SKUs. As demands continue to increase on modern distribution facilities, frequently the performance of conventional AS/RS systems will not provide sufficient flexibility, space utilization, throughput and cost payback to justify the investment.

This condition is exasperated as an increasing number of supply chain manufacturers, bottlers and distributors require 24-hour operations, at maximum throughput. Without AS/RS, warehouses depend upon the accelerated use of fork lifts maneuvering pallets into low-bay racking and staging for shipping, which is both highly labor intensive and space consuming.

Manual pallet handling in cold-storage warehouses can be particularly troublesome. Compared to ambient-temperature facilities, many manually-operated cold-storage warehouses are plagued with a higher incidence of wrong item fulfillment and poor product rotation which increases returns, shipping costs and labor. Cold-storage warehouses also have heightened facility, equipment and product damage, primarily caused by manually-operated forklifts impacting racks, doors, walls and product cases – significantly higher than that found in warehouses with ambient temperatures. Personnel turnover in cold-storage warehouses is also higher than in ambient-temperature facilities. The extreme temperatures create difficult working conditions for personnel, heightened safety issues, and staff recruitment and retention problems.

Beverage bottlers are dealing with their own set of issues when it comes to manual pallet handling. Many are running their operations 24 hours a day, and using mainly fork lifts and manual high-density rack systems for their storage. They are struggling to find labor, and they are running out of space.

Automated Shuttle-Based Pallet Storage

An alternative to high-bay crane-based AS/RS, for warehouses with lower ceilings where high-density storage is required, an automated shuttle-based pallet storage system will deliver comparable cubic space utilization, throughput and cost efficiencies to that of high-bay crane-based AS/RS. For warehouses confronted with space restrictions, automated shuttle-based pallet storage presents an ideal solution for the utilization of existing warehouse space, as opposed to the necessity of expanding into larger warehouse facilities to accommodate manual pallet-handling operations.

The latest generation of automated shuttle-based pallet storage systems is Rover, manufactured by Advance Storage Products. An automation solution that adapts to any warehouse, no matter the size constraints, Rover is a three-dimensional, shuttle-based, automated pallet storage, retrieval and delivery system that is highly configurable, flexible and scalable. It employs low-footprint vertical reciprocating conveyors (VRCs), instead of fixed-aisle cranes, and enables storage locations of more than 20 pallets deep, comparable to the industry’s most dense automated pallet storage.

The system is ideal for manufacturers and distributors, including those in the cold-storage food and beverage industries, whose operations demand flexible high-density storage for high-volume, limited-SKU counts.

Rover can solve high-throughput storage needs that cannot be addressed by other solutions. Unlike conventional racking systems or crane-based AS/RS, Rover vehicles move simultaneously and tri-directionally throughout the storage rack. The system consists of very few moving components – Rover shuttles, VCRs, and a short inbound and outbound conveyor. When compared with crane-based AS/RS, the Rover solution typically requires significantly less powered pallet conveyors, and little maintenance and upkeep.

For high-density storage in FIFO or LIFO configurations, multiple SKU’s can be easily stored and accessed on any aisle and any level as needed. Deep-lane and shallow-lane storage can be easily accommodated within the same racking structure, without any additional equipment, and little or no modification to the system. This supports the flexibility to change to new SKU profiles, such as to accommodate a shift away from an 80/20 percent mix of fast- and slow-moving SKUs to a 60/40 percent mix, as distribution operations require. Much simpler and cost effective when compared to crane-based AS/RS, which would require a change-out of crane types from satellite to forked, and new racking.

Throughput is scaled by adding Rover shuttles or vertical reciprocating conveyors as needed. VCRs are a safe, economical way to raise and lower shuttles from one level to another. Expansion or reconfiguration is significantly simplified when compared to crane-based AS/RS, because it is normally just a reconfiguration of the physical rack system, with software changes to the automation to recognize the reconfigured rack system.

Pallet Movement Outside of the System

The simplicity of adding track for the shuttles can extend beyond the storage locations of the Rover system, easily integrating to interfacing operations of receiving, pick replenishment, end-of-line production and shipping.

As product comes off the production line, for example, pallets can be staged for delivery to the loading dock using inexpensive pallet racking or gravity-flow conveyor, instead of conventional powered conveyor. 24/7 operation of Rover allows for off-shift staging, so pallets can be sequenced for loading. When the trucks arrive, they can be loaded very quickly by assigning a shuttle to constantly bring the pallets forward, where a fork lift can take of the end pallets and put them into a truck.

In most warehouses, picking is the most labor-intensive function, and usually can provide the most cost-savings when automated. In beverage warehouses, an average person can replenish 50 to 60 cases per hour into a carton flow. And fork lift operators can perform 6 to 8 replenishment events per hour. The Rover system can support integration to automatically replenish pick modules or layer picking operations.

Improved Efficiencies in Pallet Storage

One of the major causes of product damage and facility damage in warehouses is from manually-operated fork lift trucks moving pallet loads through the end-of-production-line and warehouse operations. This problem is significantly reduced with the application of the Rover system.

With the emergence of this latest generation of automated shuttle-based, pallet storage system, a new level of flexibility and efficiency above and beyond the capabilities of conventional crane-based AS/RS has been realized. For beverage bottlers, cold-storage food and consumer products manufacturers, improved productivity, reduced labor requirements and optimized utilization of space are the key benefits of this system.

Patrick Roberts writes on distribution automation.

About Advance Storage Products

Advance Storage Products (Advance) manufactures engineered-to-order structural rack systems. Started in 1958 in southern California and still family-owned today, Advance has become the leading structural rack system producer, serving customers in the US and abroad. With a long history of innovation, the company offers turnkey systems from purchase through warranty.

Digital Publications

Privacy Preference Center

Consent Management

EPG Media LLC wants you to have a positive experience in connection with our products and services. We want you to know that we respect the privacy and security of our users. Our goal is to provide you with an experience that delivers the information, resources and services that are helpful to you. In order to achieve this goal, we may collect information from you. We discuss our information collection practices below. This Privacy Policy sets forth the privacy principles we follow, in accordance with our operations.

This Privacy Policy sets forth the privacy practices with respect to your information when you use our software, mobile applications and services (“Services”) . If you do not agree to these terms, do not use the services.

This privacy policy (this “Policy”) describes the personal information we may collect from you, the purposes for which we collect it, how we use it and when we may share it with third parties. This Policy also describes the choices you can make about how we collect, use and disclose your information when you provide it to us on any EPG Media & Specialty Information properties will not collect, use or disclose your personal information other than in compliance with this Policy.

By using the any of our websites and/or making online requests of products, you agree to the terms and conditions of EPG’s Policy. If our Policy changes in the future, we will notify our customers and website users of any such changes by posting an updated policy on our website.

Following the posting of such non-material changes, your continued use of any EPG’s websites will constitute your acceptance of these changes and you will be bound by such changes. If you do not continue to use the EPG’ websites following a change to our Policy but take no other action with respect to your personal information, our use of that information will remain subject to our Policy as it was in effect prior to the change. You are responsible for regularly reviewing this Policy and any changes thereto.

We may offer you the ability to connect with our websites or use our applications, services, and tools using a mobile device, either through a mobile application or via a mobile optimized website. The provisions of this Policy apply to all such mobile access and use of mobile devices. This Policy will be referenced by all such mobile applications or mobile optimized websites.